Franchising VS Opening Your Gym. Why Choose The Camp
At The Camp Transformation Center we get inquiries daily from entrepreneurs looking to open their own business. One of the more popular questions we get is “Why should I franchise with The Camp? Why don’t I just open my own gym?”
That’s a great question and one that is pretty common amongst people who are exploring their options when it comes to business ownership.
I think there are 5 main things to consider when deciding whether to franchise or create your own brand.
Brand recognition – One of the most powerful advantages to franchising is that you’ll instantly be part of a nationally recognized brand. This will drive consumers through the door and create a buzz in your market with each new location opening. This won’t happen with your own brand. You’ll have an untested name with no recognition and most, if not all consumers, will be indifferent toward your brand. They won’t hate it, but they won’t love it either. An existing brand allows you to tap into those strong emotional ties that members of the community have. You’ll also benefit from professional looking marketing materials, internal and external signage, and a great social media presence that consumers are familiar with and trust.
Proven business model – After brand recognition the most important reason entrepreneurs choose to franchise over starting their own business is because the business model has already been proven. Heck The Camp spent over 5 years of research & development perfecting our business model prior to awarding our first franchising. Conversely starting your own gym will require additional time, money, and energy as you determine through trial and error your marketing, daily operating procedures, pricing, programming, and membership options. You’ll need to find technology solutions that allow you to run your business on both the front and the back end. Franchising lets you hit the ground running and focus your attention on great customer service, fun workouts, and delivering on your franchise’s already established brand promise.
Support – In franchising there is a popular saying that “You’re in business for yourself, but not by yourself”. When you start your own business the only person concerned about your success is you. In a great franchise system like The Camp you have many people invested in your success. The Camp provides guidance with site selection, lease negotiations, club design, training, hiring, pre-sale, and ongoing support once the doors are open. At the Camp each franchise is assigned a Franchise Business Consultant who meets with you weekly to assess your businesses health. These meetings allow us to dig into daily operations, customer service, or any other areas we feel you can improve upon the consumer experience and drive success. You won’t have that support network when you go into business by yourself.
Executive Leadership – At The Camp one of our biggest assets is our leadership team. Collectively our team has decades of experience in both fitness and franchising. This is incredibly important as everyone who is helping to guide your business has real world experience. Our team has the ability to help you see the big picture and focus your time and energy where you’ll see the greatest ROI. This allows you to scale the business quickly. While this might be your first Camp location, we’ve done it over 100 times and can help you achieve years worth of success in only a few months. With our guidance franchise owners are able to step in and run successful locations without any previous business or industry experience. If you’re doing this on your own you’ll be left to guide yourself, which is tricky if you haven’t done this before.
Vendors – Another benefit of franchising with The Camp TC is that we have a network of vendors that will help get your Camp location up and running while saving money. Vendors work with you to create a uniform experience for our customers. We do this by using the same equipment, flooring, signage, technology systems, etc in all of our locations. As a franchise owner you benefit from the purchasing power of a large entity. Our prices and rates are based on the franchise system as a whole saving you money while ensuring you a higher level of quality products. If you were opening your own gym you would be negotiating a rate based on 1 location, not 100+ locations. That makes a big difference in the quality of products, services, and costs. If you’re passionate about fitness and truly want to help people create real change in their lives then franchising with The Camp might be right for you. If you’ve always wanted to be a business owner and think you lack the experience in both business and the fitness industry then franchising with The Camp is absolutely right for you. To learn more about franchising CLICK HERE.
